Multiple heat records broken in July in northern B.C. and Yukon

Some communities in northern B.C. experienced their hottest July ever last month, according to data from Environment Canada.

Environment Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Armel Castellan said temperatures in the south of the province were unusually high but not record-breaking.

However, multiple records were broken in July in northern B.C. and Yukon.

"Inuvik, for instance, was almost four standard deviations away from its normal July — which is a 6.2 degrees departure [from the average]," Castellan said.

"I spoke [about] one or two degrees in the South Coast, but as you go north, you're dealing with five and six-degree departures for an individual month, which is absolutely unprecedented and terrifying at the same time."

In Prince George, the average temperature over the last 30 days was 18.6 C, nearly three degrees above average, and the hottest average temperature ever recorded in that city.

Castellan told CBC's Daybreak North in a separate interview that while there may not have been extended periods of extreme heat, the month of July was consistently warm across the province. And that trend is likely to continue for the rest of the season.

"What we're seeing — which is a little bit different from, say, what we saw last summer and in 2021 when we saw that extreme heat dome in late June — is that this year has been more characterized by consistent warmth," he said.

"Our forecast for the next month, and the next three months, shows … 80-90 per cent probabilities that we continue with this warm trend. So that's the concern, is that this is going to continue for several months."

Castellan said the longer periods of sustained heat are one aspect of how Canada will experience climate change —noting that the hot, dry season could begin earlier and end later in the years to come.

He said May was extremely warm this year, bringing summer temperatures to the province before the season even started.

"It's kind of like a double summer in a row when you consider that the month of May was so anomalous in its temperature and precipitation signals."

Alongside the consistently high temperatures, B.C. saw very little rain in July.

A rain event on the South Coast in the later part of the month brought the seasonal totals there to about 30-60 per cent of normal values.

"[But] places like Cranbrook in the southeast only saw 2.3 millimetres, were unaffected by that July 24th, 25th event and only were at six per cent of normal [precipitation]. So they had their fourth driest July on record," Castellan said.

Castellan said the long-range forecast shows that B.C. will likely experience dry and warm weather into October.

B.C. has already experienced the worst wildfire season on record — exacerbated by the high temperatures and low precipitation levels.